


Youthful Stares

by secretagentfan



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Dating, Established Relationship, Fluff, M/M, Secret Santa, fambly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 06:00:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/secretagentfan/pseuds/secretagentfan
Summary: "For the briefest of moments Ludger could see the hero— the incredible mind all of Leronde saw when they thought of the name Jude Mathis."A trip to Drellin with the gang, shy dating, and the pressures of heroism.
Relationships: Jude Mathis/Ludger Will Kresnik
Comments: 6
Kudos: 13





	Youthful Stares

**Author's Note:**

  * For [spyritemasheen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spyritemasheen/gifts).



> RAINWA HERE YOU GO. I was so so so so excited to get to make a gift for youuuuu. Your prompts gave me so many ideas and I started so many fics but this is the one that I finally settled into. I hope you enjoy Ludju domestic shopping trips. I LOVE THEM I LOVE THEIR LOVE. HAPPY SECRET SANTA!!!!
> 
> (For Xillia Brainrot discord secret santa)

“Gald time, gald time!” Elle chanted, waving a piece of the Hammerzam’s mandible in the air like she had been the one to cut it off herself. It was a bit of an alarming image but she’d pestered Ludger all the way to Drellin wanting to hold it. He’d finally given in.

“Ah, Elle let’s not run with that,” Jude warned, and Ludger clued in that, huh, maybe allowing the eight-year-old to carry the sharpest piece of the confirming bounty wasn’t the smartest call, no matter how many times she’d asked him.

Elle was sparkling with the responsibility, however, proudly shouting their kill over the busy marketplace.

“It should be fine, Jude,” Ludger decided. “It’s pretty dull from the fight.”

“Yeah Jude!” Leia jumped in, brandishing one of the shorter legs from the insectoid beast like an expensive blade. “Don’t ruin fun!”

Jude opened his mouth to argue, eyes lidded in such a way Ludger knew he was about to bring up something playfully cutting— when Teepo flew in front of him.

With flourish and a muffled cry the booster spat the blue gem from the Hammerzam’s forehead in front of the baffled request board associate.

“Ta-dah— monster gem! Hold your applause, please!”

At this point, a good portion of the marketplace was staring at their bizarre little group. Ludger flushed a bit. Stares had always been part of his life, packaged neatly with the words _Julius’s little brother_ , but he’d never adjusted to them.

“Well I’ll be damned…” the associate whispered. He was an elderly man with a curly white beard and spectacles. The gem glowed in his palm. Still staring at it, he held a hand out to accept the mandible and leg. “You children really slayed that thing.”

“Yeah and we got the bruises to prove it!” Teepo groaned. “Give us the gald, gald man!”

“And we are not children,” Elize articulated. “We are capable warrior-friends.”

“There’s nothing wrong with being young, you know,” the old man replied, tapping away at an archaic-looking GHS to set up the gald transfer. Ludger stifled a laugh, holding out his own GHS as the spyrix inside thrummed and accepted the monetary data.

Nova lit his screen immediately, speaking in a low theatrical voice.

“Presenting the story of galdilocks-Ludger...”

She had committed to a whole bit this time, holding a post-it note storybook up to the screen. It looked like she had illustrated it herself with whatever she had lying around her office. She held it at the top started to shuffle through the pages with her thumb— a flipbook. Wow. There was a crash behind her, and she stood up, voice abruptly normal. “Uh-oh, oh no! Here come the _bears_ —”

Ludger’s thumb moved on its own, sending a quarter of their payment to Spirius. The screen went dark.

“Galdilocks…?” he mumbled. _Really_ Nova? Must be a slow day.

“Ah, so you’re in debt. Well that explains it. Desperate times, eh?”

Ludger just shrugged, not going into it. Transaction complete.

He led the group to an alleyway away from the stranger’s eyes and the curious whispers of the marketplace town. A few taps on his device and everyone’s phones dinged with the notification of a yet another gald transfer.

Elize was the first to react.

“ _We’re rich!_ ” Teepo shouted.

“This is a full quarter of what we made,” Elize reported, red-faced. “Is it okay for us to have this much gald?”

Ludger smiled. “You earned it. Besides, it’s about time we got some more supplies.”

“Whoa, nice…” Leia whispered. “Hey, you sure about this Ludger? What about your debt?”

“It’s fine. They won’t be restricting my travel as long as I make a payment in the next month, so I can be a little more free with how I spend. Besides, this is your gald as much as mine. I’d feel bad taking more.”

“Ludger!” Teepo cried out, gnawing on Ludger’s left shoulder. “You’re too— mmgphh— kind!”

Ludger pushed at Teepo’s head, struggling to dislodge from the plush’s impressive grip.

“I should get paid too,” Elle piped up, chest out. “I gave _moral support_.”

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Ludger teased.

Elle seemed to practically expand with complaints— carrying all the potential energy of an inflating balloon. Ludger’s eyes widened, bracing for the punishing release, when Leia leapt to his rescue.

“Hey wait a second, Elle! We can go shopping together. This is _way_ more gald than I’ll be able to spend all on my own! I’ll get you whatever you want.”

“You can have some of my payment too,” Elize added. “Maybe we can get a feast!”

“Sweets for days!” Teepo shouted, at last freeing Ludger’s arm in order to circle around Elle enthusiastically. The little girl was overwhelmed, but the flush on her face made it clear she was living for the attention.

“Well, I _guess_ I could take my payment in sweets.” She kicked a rock, distracting everyone from her smile, a shy habit Ludger knew she picked up from Milla. Cute.

“That’s the spirit! Sweets party!” Leia cheered, and then turned to Jude. “Girls only. We don’t need you spilling ice cream everywhere.”

“That was _one tim_ e—” Jude began, exasperated, but Leia had already grabbed Elle’s hand and started to sprint.

“—Uh-oh Elle, old Crabcake Mathis is gonna pop, let’s go, go, go!”

“I want cake first—”

_“_ — _We were six_ — _”_

“—Hey wait for me guys!” Elize shouted, looking between the retreating Elle and Leia and flustered Jude, seeming torn for just a moment.

“Bye Jude! Bye Ludger!”

She bowed quickly, hurrying after the girls.

“Bye-bye best pals!” Teepo finished, for her.

Ludger laughed, a little breathless. Drellin’s pâtissiers sure had a storm coming their way.

“Leia’s going to eat herself into an early grave,” Jude mumbled.

“You really wanted those sweets, huh?” Ludger teased— grin only widening as Jude glared in his direction.

“Not at all, it’s the principle of it. I’m not a child.”

“Right,” Ludger drawled. “You’re not a kid, you’re a _capable warrior-friend.”_

“You’re included in that description, you know… Being treated like a kid really doesn’t bother you?”

“Not really, I’ve been seen as _Julius’s little brother_ for years. It’s part of the territory at this point.”

Jude seemed to consider this for a moment. He shook his head and let out a long, low sigh, leaning on Ludger. “I guess it’s an only-child thing then.”

His dark hair brushed against Ludger’s neck as Jude rested his cheek on his shoulder. The faint smell of overpriced hair gel made Ludger smile and his arm wrapped around him automatically, claiming his heat. Jude breathed out at the contact, shutting his eyes.

Ludger glanced around the alley to make sure no one was watching. It wouldn’t have been a problem if someone was, they weren’t really hiding their relationship, but public displays of affection— even subtle ones— tended to make them both uncomfortable.

Thankfully, it was empty.

_This is Drellin with Jude,_ Ludger thought, mentally capturing the moment; the way the sounds of the bustling marketplace bled into the brick, far enough away to not touch them. Jude’s body resting against his— the soft-warm solidity and easy serenity of it. The fizzy, _stupid_ love that burst through Ludger’s chest with the familiar contact. He’d take a dozen more of these moments, please, every day for the rest of his life.

“It’s strange isn’t it?” Jude offered, eyes slowly opening.“To anyone else, we look like a ragtag bunch of kids, but we’ve all seen so much. _Done_ so much. I don’t really _feel_ like a kid, anymore. Huh, I guess that only makes me sound younger— only children think of themselves as adults, right?”

His voice had darkened just slightly, one hand in his pocket, the other on his chin. For the briefest of moments Ludger could see the hero— the incredible mind all of Leronde saw when they thought of the name _Jude Mathis_.

He could see under it too— glimpse the burden Jude had accepted with his whole heart. Every fractured dimension, every spirit killed by a spyrix, every human he’d taken the life of in self-defense; these things hung over him, almost instinctively— a lead weight he was born lifting.

Jude wore the shackles of responsibility, the pressure of faith, as naturally as the lab coat on his shoulders.

Ludger was tired _for_ him. Tired of this selflessness. Tired of it just being _Jude_.

“Yeah,” he replied, voice barely above a whisper— before elbowing him in the side.

“I guess so— ow, what? Hey—! _Ludger_!”

Ludger didn’t stop until Jude returned fire, shoving him hard on the back of the head and actually making him stumble forward a few feet.

“Whoa!” Ludger managed, catching himself before he tumbled into the hard brick wall.

“You brought that on yourself,” Jude replied, looking awfully smug for someone still rubbing his side.

“Could’ve killed me,” Ludger complained.

“I’d have to throw you much harder for that,” Jude laughed.

The impossible burden had fallen away— he just looked like himself; not some world-weary hero, but regular, brilliant, Jude Mathis.

Ludger’s heart leapt, admiring the slight flush to Jude’s face, the boyish light in his eyes. Jude carried the weight, but he didn’t have to lose himself. Sure, they’d seen and done too much, but they had time to work through that. That’s what adulthood was for.

Now, though, before adulthood, before they could unpack all this— now they just had to survive it. Survive, and _live_.

“Let’s go out,” Ludger found himself saying. “Someplace nice. Someplace we usually wouldn’t let ourselves go to.”

Now Jude’s cheeks really were pink. “You mean…a date?”

The thought hadn’t occurred to Ludger, and all at once he _needed_ it to be. It rattled around in his chest, electric, perfect. Yes— yes, _absolutely_ a date. He wanted to go on a date with Jude; now, in the middle of everything. _Now_ , while they _could_.

“A date,” Ludger confirmed. “A date where you don’t have to think about what’s on your mind, for once. Let’s just go out, Jude. Together.”

The touched smile that spread across Jude’s face made it clear that was the correct answer, that he was feeling the same way. Jude seemed to recalibrate, hand going to his chin again. It was the same motion as moments before, but his posture was completely different— quietly thrilled. Ludger could watch him plan like this, plan for _them_ , all day.

“Okay, I’ve got a few ideas,” Jude announced, thumb running along the buttons of his GHS.

_Already?_ Ludger grinned, opening his mouth to tease, when his phone dinged with the telltale sound of a gald transfer. His heart fell at Jude’s nonchalant smile.

“Hey—”

Nova’s face lit the screen. She was unprepared this time, cleaning up what appeared to have once been a paper mâché bear, “—Oh, hiya Luds, I’m actually kind of busy right now, so—”

Ludger paid a hundred gald, and the screen shut off again.

“You didn’t have to do that,” Ludger started, confused. “You earned that payment yourself.”

“It’s mine to spend, right? I want to split with you. If I don’t have to worry about what’s hanging over me today…neither do you. Like you said, let’s just go out, right?”

Ludger swallowed, heart in his throat, not sure what to say, or how to say it, but certain, in this moment, that he was completely in love with Jude.

Jude didn’t need a response, however. He reached out, calloused hand finding Ludger’s and tangling their fingers. He glanced out of the alleyway.

“Is this okay?’ he asked, quiet.

“It’s perfect,” Ludger admitted, squeezing his hand, heart in his ears, as they smiled dumbly at each other. “You don’t mind…the stares?”

“No, do you?”

Ludger rightened his grip.

“Not with you.”

Jude grinned, and together they stepped out into the busy marketplace— ready to get lost.

They were young, after all.


End file.
